LA in Brief : Brunches, burritos & bafflement
My most memorable stops on this first-timer 4-day trip.
I’m going to be honest, but I did not immediately vibe with LA. I only visited for four days, so I won’t weigh in on the deep-seated problems that make the city what it is, but I’ve never been more grateful to live in Glasgow. It, at times, made me feel unsafe, uneasy, and genuinely sad about the state of the world. I still can’t get my head around it. This can’t be the same LA people fall in love with.
But hey, sometimes we have these experiences so we can feel truly blessed to be part of an affordable, walkable, friendly, green, gorgeous little city with great public transport.
Don’t get me wrong, we still had a great time. Here are some highlights.
Beautiful decor, great pool, good location (right next to an In-N-Out and minutes from the Hollywood Walk of Fame). Also, not expensive but still nice, which is my hotel sweet spot.
I could have chosen so many things from this menu, but the breakfast burrito was excellent. I also had a Triple Cin, which, as the name suggests, has three cinnamon elements. Insane.
The infamous line wasn’t too bad, and it would be a great way to meet people if you were new to the city. We chatted to our line neighbors and met several cute dogs. Everything was incredible. Worth the hype. Get an Einspanner, pistachio toast, and the breakfast sliders.
It’s hard to do anything truly ‘new and exciting’ with coffee, but they’ve managed it. Great execution of silly drinks and impeccable branding.
This was really fun, and I’m enjoying Lexi parading around the backlot on the latest season of Euphoria. We did this on a rainy afternoon, and it took about 3 hours. There are lots of different elements covering many types of film and TV. I would recommend it if you have the time.
A fave spot of Harry Styles up in the hills. It was cool to get a peek into this celebrity residential bit without getting on a star tour. You can get a great view of the Hollywood sign here, but the sign itself is not very easy to reach. I feel like that was a theme of the trip: everyone really makes it look like you will be taking a short stroll to these iconic landmarks. But Beachwood Cafe was lovely, with a very old-school vibe. Not too busy. I got the vegan burrito, and the crispy potatoes were excellent.
I’m not a huge shopper, but I do like a fancy outdoor mall scenario. Lots of stores we don’t have at home and ones we do that are just much less expensive in the US. I got some wide-leg joggers from Gap that everyone who encounters them envies. Lots of great stores Alo, Le Labo, Aritzia, Revolve, Sandro. We also went to the Trader Joe’s across the road and stocked up.
Now, we had fully planned to get glam and go for the full martini-dinner-with-the-girls experience. But by this point in the trip, after the Coachella of it all, we could not summon the strength. So, dinner came to us. 100/10 recommend getting a pasta sharing situation delivered to your hotel room and eating it in your pajamas. No regrets. The food was worth the hype, and I would go back under less-tired-girl circumstances.
Erewhon
Really needs no introduction, and I think everyone knows I’d be an insufferable Erewhon fan. I think the scaremongering around the prices is a bit undeserved. Don’t fear it. Yes, there are insanely priced things. Yes, I did pay $14 for a coconut water. The best coconut water I’ve had in my life. But there’s also a kind of socialness to it. People seemed to be hanging out, chatting, and being friendly. And the food is VERY good.
Santa Monica Pier
If you have a day on your trip to spare, take a trip to Santa Monica Pier. The vibes are so different from LA, even though it’s only a short ride away.
Venice Beach
If you are going to Santa Monica, you are super close to Venice Beach. We cycled along the cycle path, and it took around 10-15 minutes. I popped into a couple of vintage stores and got a cool Harley Davidson t-shirt. We watched the skateboarders and walked through the canals.
And finally…
There are just some things you gotta do. Crumbl cookies, that 2016 pink wall, my first In-N-Out, the Walk of Fame, Beverly Hills…I don’t think you could ever be bored here.
As time has passed, I find myself missing LA a little. Who knows, maybe I’ll be a lover of La La Land yet.